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Bowling Ball Vs 700kmh Helicopter Blades! Who Wins
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- Published on Feb 17, 2026
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Hi guys! How are you doing?!
hear me out... reverse the pitch of the blades and launch stuff into them from the bottom
@realreallynow that sounds like a fantastic idea..now that's chaos am willing to watch and enjoy
make another video with four helicopter swords all who want to do that leave a like
it would also solve your rig trying to take off on ya
the fact that this channel has consistently gotten more and more entertaining over the years is so impressive. some of my fav Aussies right here!
Their content never gets old....
@andresarias1612 fr i used to watch them when i was a literal kid lol. now i have a full time job and i still love it
the real lack of safety awareness with this video, im not sure how many more years they will have left.
my story was, early in the pandemic, i think i started seeing Dude Perfect videos. i think i watched a couple of those before HR videos started showing up in my recommends, and then i realized i had seen an old old magnus effect video with the basketball at the dam, and instantly i was hooked on these aussies instead. who the heck is dude perfect??
Amen
This has got to be HRs sketchiest thing ever! Awesome to see the blending machine back in action!
Yeah, careful fellas.
Good looking helicopter analog for sure, what a terrifying contraption!! 🎉
No, the sketchiest thing was STRAPPING multiple KATANA to this machine BY THE HANDLES. As you would expect, the blades flew out of the handles. It was dumb, dangerous, and they should have known better. They later machined holes through the katana blades and bolted them.
Yep. If something had failed and a blade went flying it could easily go through a container.
@HumbleBountyHunter The katanas were sketchy no doubt, but the safety precautions they took were *probably* sufficient. Unlike helicopter blades, katanas don't have a lot of mass.
I’m no expert but I don’t think that shipping container would’ve helped had one of those blades broke. I wouldn’t be above ground anywhere near that thing unless there’s a mountain between us. The forces you guys were dealing with is insane.
At 20:00, after the blade impacts the bowling ball, a piece of material can be seen sliding out from the blade's hollow leading section. That is what caused the blades to become unbalanced, and you can see it immediately start to vibrate and that's when it started "walking" the whole thing around.
True, I missed that
@adventure_power yes it is you use your eyes
Yep. There's an imbalance, plus the lift force from the blades, plus the torque from the motor acting on the base.
@RichM3000 There is no lift force from the blades unless they are significantly deformed in such a way that twists them to push air down. The way they mounted them is a neutral position that will provide zero lift.
@scythelord I'm assuming they are mounted as they would be on a helicopter. Yes, they could make it have positive lift, have zero lift, or even have negative lift.
If you know they made it neutral, then I'd agree with your comment.
Looking forward to seeing PT2. Stay safe guys That is some serious kinetic energy you're dealing with.
If one of those blades lets go that shipping container might as well be a sheet of paper. They need to be way further away
@pilotdog68 that was my thought too once I saw the ripped bolts. I really want to see it go, but damn that could get horrible.
1:44 omg.. you guys were how close to this spinning contraption in a "bunker" that's just a shipping container?!? 🤯🤯🤯
Agree. IMO they need to put AR 600 plates om the outside and Kevlar spall liners on the inside. this will help protect them from worst case scenarios. They all could be turned into human hamburger. That would be terrible and a shock to everyone.
You guys must be new to the channel
@ILikeDonuts666this is by far the sketchiest thing I've seen on their channel. Mostly they are well out of harm's way of the crazy stuff they are doing, but gotta agree with the OP here, if one of those blades snapped loose it could fly straight through that shipping container and kill them all.
Or just some piles of dirt
Ive literally put holes in them with small hand tools.
2:24
Anecdote - a story that is usually derived from personal experience.
Memoir - generally a book, similar to an autobiography, but tends to be based heavily on personal recollections
Parable - a story told to illustrate a moral lesson
Good answer!
So can there be an Anecdotal Memoir that teaches a Parable? Or are they mutually exclusive?
Now do metaphor and analogy...ah, asking for a friend.
@ian3314 Memoirs tend to contain a fair amount of anecdotes.
so ive been playing Stanely illustrates a moral lesson all along?!?
The damage from the shirts made the whole thing imablanced. When you guys spun it up again, it began to walk.
Personally, i cant believe you guys spun it up again after the shirts. Thats nuts. Heavy, spinny things are terrifying.
Flex tape isn't going to keep the blade attached if it feels like it wants to nope out.
Thanks for pointing out the obvious.
i think it was actually the bowling ball, a big piece broke off the end when it hit the ball and that's when it started shaking. you can see in the spin-up before the bowling ball it was perfectly still, not rocking at all, and then when it hit the ball it immediately started rocking
Yeah, definitely terrifying. They think they're safe inside that little trailer? Uh, no. No they're not. They should be a lot further away, inside a concrete bunker. But as long as their videos keep coming out, I guess they're still alive.
@framwinkle Yeah 100%, I mean I would imagine that the blades aren't aerodynamically stable at all if they were to fly off, but I still wouldn't put myself within a half mile of that thing. I don't care what kind of bunker
I'm in unless I'm fully underground.
The primal urge to watch things get destroyed in spectacular fashion is definitely what keeps me coming back to this channel
💯🎉
NO ONE gonna talk about that the bowling ball sent a chunk of the blade flying in the Earth
Glad someone else saw that. That's probably why the contraption was shaking so violently.
Pretty sure that was the door to the drop box.
Yeah that was my first thought as well. How did no one notice that?
@TheEntropianist that's what I thought
That was a piece of blade, that’s why it’s shaking so bad, it’s unbalanced.
20:02 no one commenting on the blade breaking and a huge chunk flying off into the dirt has got to be the wildest part of this vid.
They were paid off
That was not the blade. That was the trap door from their box.
@MrHellhound1 u can literally see both
@MrHellhound1 bro look closer and pause to see even better it's clearly ripping off the tip side of the helicopter propeller and then hits the ground with a massive force.
It was a bolt
Those spinning death blades from hell are absolutely terrifying!
If you slow down the video at 20:15, a few frames before the blade goes off screen after hitting the bowling ball you can see the blade core starting to slide out. This is what flies off and impacts the ground at 20:00.
If it didn't go into the ground it would have destroyed a cow
3 weekends in a row? Much appreciated
The scene following the hardhat + Nokia is a hilarious sequence 🤣🤣🤣
Former Army and Lockheed helicopter mechanic and crewchief. I could not believe you spun those blades after the T-shirts. I have seen blades with far less damage tear themselves apart. Did you know that the blades exert several TONS of force at full RPM. If one of those broke and came your way, it could go right through your bunker like hot butter. Most insane HR video I have ever seen. I knew it was safe because you posted the video, but I am a little freaked out knowing the danger you were in without having a clue. Also, once those blades were damaged, I was expecting your spinning contraption to shake itself to pieces, so kudos to whoever built that thing!!! I am zero surprise that the foundation was moving, the forces of those spinning blades are insane. Glad you all survived, but PLEASE do a little more research on stuff like this!
Yapyapyap mimimimi
Ridiculous?
replying so it's boosted up, they need to see this
Rpm was way lower than you think I'm guessing..
Was thinking the same thing but I don't have your knowledge or experience on the matter.
Second kring worthy RUclips video I've seen today
I was praying you boys replaced the blades after the shirt drop. Running wonky blades at high speed is a RISKY move.
Glad y'all are safe! o.0
Low rpm
I'm hoping they will post the OASHA (Austrailian version) letter they got.🤣 Happy to see everyone safe. That had to be the most dangerous stunt I've seen done on this channel.
@JiggyjarjardoM77 It was 300rpm and most helicopters run between 200 and 500 rpm. [longer rotors = lower RPM while still keeping tip-speed high]
If any part of that rotor sheared off and hit their shipping container, you'd be seeing a vid about injuries and/or deaths.
Shipping containers are not armoured bunkers.
That Nokia is gonna break the helicopter.....LMFAO
Looks like the foundation really started moving after the shirt impact - the damage probably unbalanced the blades, it then every time it ran the vibration shook the foundation a bit more until it was loose!
The reason the base moved was because the blades had no tail rotor to counter act the spinning of the blades.
@8arrows Wrong
yeah i noticed this as soon as the shirt damage happened.
@ThunderbirdWD9598 not completely wrong. The tail paddles act as a counter to the main rotor blades, and without them whatever the blades are spinning on will want to spin the other direction.🤷♂️
Newtons third law of physics.
Is it only me who sees this big piece of one blade falling off after hitting the ball and clearly it starts shaking after the two blades have different weight because one is now significant shorter
I love the shelf of FEETures…
What is rjmbricks doing here
I love the distance these guys go to to give us what we all want to see.
I’m a naval aviation helo mechanic and you DO NOT want to mess with broken helicopter blades if they are carbon fiber. (Edit: originally wrote fiberglass like an idjit) The shards don’t get pushed out by your body if you get a sliver and that can be dangerous
Also would there be lock-wire on all the nuts and bolts?
Lucky these are old bell jetranger blades that arent fibre glass
@makeeverydaycinematicno, because blades have pins that go through the cuff of the blade, and not bolts. Bolts only have tensile strength, while the pins have more shear strength. So putting bolts into those areas, with blades pushing outwards from rotating, could cause (which is what we saw happen) a bolt or multiple to shear off and fly away possibly into the blades themselves.
@AdamusPrime76 Army aviator here myself. I 100% agree with you. However if it was fiberglass or carbon fiber as a choice, I would pick fiberglass personally.😂
@ shit, I meant carbon fiber lol. Been awhile
Thanks How Ridiculous for including Rotorcraft Repair & Manufacturing in your video! It's awesome to see how you used the blades, and we really appreciate the shoutout. Glad to be part of your content. Keep up the great work guys!
Thank YOU for making this kind of videos possible !
(I bet with a friend, are those Bell Jet Ranger blades ?)
🎉🎉🎉🎉❤❤❤❤❤
I imagine this is what its like when a grasshopper jumps into my lawnmower blades
the noise it makes at about 19:15 is physically unsettling
Did anyone else feel the urge to duck ? Or was it just me 😂
I think the short stories behind each item was my favorite part, it adds another layer of fun to the video and I would love to see more of it!
so creative so funny so good🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉
It would be an absolute dream to come spend a week doing this with yall! We love this stuff!
I had a suspicion that the concrete block might be moved, but to actually see it is a whole other thing.
Was so paranoid it might just take off until they mentioned the weight lowkey
Ah yes the 28th of October, 1997, 6:00am. I remember it like it was yesterday! I believe you can find the forks counterpart, the spoon, in the New York City museum! 😂
How’d he miss a pun like “Finally the shelf of feet-ures has some toes” lmfaooo
9:45 was really hoping for at least 2 more in succession
Same but it was still funny 😂
HR strikes again......Those blades are mad distructive...in a couple days look for some tomato seedlings..am here for the distruction and chaos 😂😂😂😂❤❤❤❤ love you guys
Can you guys do a funny video of just all the flies you've eaten
Omg that first wind up had me❤
Was not expecting the shirts to be the thing that made the blades go wonky!Great vid! The Revolut commercial with Derek as the teleprompter! 😂
Working on them for 11 years, I am not surprised.
Only explanation that comes to mind is that blades have solid pins, they are not held onto by threaded bolts with nuts. The pins go into the spindle on the rotary head, and into the blade cuff. The pins have a higher shear force, while the bolts used have a higher tension force. When those blades spin, they push outwards, and thats what caused that one bolt to shear as it did, while also the shirts increasing the drag of the blade that slowed it down. Considering the amount of shirts dropped.
@SalemElloitI just want to say, at 20:00 it looks like the tip of the blade flew off…
@trev_og_music part of it did fly off there. The golf club already damaged the blade, which caused structural integrity failure, and the shirts hitting it causing more resistance to the blades causing them to slow down, cracked it even further. While also, the bolt sheared out of the hole it was placed in.
So it is no surprise that the blade itself broke when the bowling ball hit it.
@SalemElloitnah, that’s a part of the dropper box that got knocked off by the ball fragments. You can see it in other views of the same drop.
I expected it, because your comment spoiled it for me lol. RUclips decided to put it right at the top 😂
"I don't want anything to broke them" lol
Loving all the posts lately. Me and my 2 kids love yalls videos. Thanks guys
The sound of those blades as full speed is terrifying 😲 Awesome video as always.
You should try flying in a helicopter ;)
Those tomatoes looked perfect - that hurt.
Wow! That sound of the helicopter getting stronger and louder starting at 1:22 is very intense and awesome at the same time! I'm happy to see this equipment back in action, HR Boys! ^^
21:36 those blades are so out of balance!
Yah... The foundation is moving... 🙃
Is that when you stopped watching 👀
Oh really
This looks like a scene from Final Destination. Klowns K-bashed by Kinetics.
Less talking, more science.🎉
18:42 caught me so off gaurd. Best part of the video😂
im here for rexy taking a drink with herron 😂😂😂
2:20 incredible Gonson is something else
17:48 for the bowling ball
The shelf of “feet”ures now with the toes 😂
2:19 genuinely wasn't expecting to hear Jungle - Back On 74 on a How Ridiculous vid, good taste lads.
Absolutely banger song right there
In the overhead shot starting at 14:40 you can see what is probably the bolt, hit the ground at about the two-o'clock position. It kicked up a fair amount of dirt.
With the speed it hit the ground I wouldn't be surprised if the blade hit it too. Also if you count the bolts (tiny white dots at the center of the thing) it is definitly the bolt because one dot is missing by the time of the ground impact.
piñatas vs helicopter blades would be a great video
Under 10 hour gang 🎉🎉
Same same!
HOW GOOD!!!! This is going to be AWESOME!!! But are u sure what it’s attached too won’t try to move and take off?? I mean those are copter blades lol Well you guys aren’t called How Ridiculous for no reason!!!!! And helicopter will win against the BB
😂 I’m here for the destruction 😅
Guys, at 19:56, what is the flat piece flying off? Has to be part of the blade.
thats the door for dropping things.
Yeah, watching it slowed down you can see it comes flying off the blade, I was wondering what made such violent impacts in the dirt
@That_Train_Guy005 nope, the door flies up. That's part of the blade.
@Hobobubbles 1. the guy says: oh are door
2. the door got hit off the box and can be seen flying
I dont see anything else that can be.
Yes, and you can see it impact the dirt while the door is still flying upwards. Pretty clearly a piece of the blade.
At 14:42 you can see something make a crater in the top right of the screen. This was during the replay of the shirts. I can say with confidence it was not a shirt. Perhaps that bolt that went missing. . .
It was the bolt. You can see one's missing by that point (if you look just before the impact VS just after). My guess is the blade hit it too and that's why it hit the ground so fast.
@maxfern5701 I agree. And in the other angle you see the whole bolt and washers come flying off. The boys are playing with some serious power here. Travel safely gents.
that go pro shoud be in a museum
That sound as it starts up is beautiful
yeah
'Beautiful', 'horrifying'... basically the same thing...
0:00 already a banger.
Fr
Story time with Scott really testing us 44's
who's here in 1687
Principia?
I am in 200bc
Dang your a year late
I am 2086
Do you mean 8716
21:07 I was WAITING for the whole contraption to just like lift off the ground lol. helicopter blades are Made to lift and I love this concept!! super fun video lads
Yes, they are made to lift, but you do need to have them at an appropriate angle of attack. =)
The toes went on the shelf of "feet"tures 😂
For us Americans, That's 434.96 MPH
Or driving from los Angeles to the grand canyon in 1 hour
So 435mph
@Tha_Monsta88 Pretty much
I salute you brother, you went up and beyond for our country. You must have had a wild journey to collect that information to convert kilogram into freedom units, Therefore soldier you have indeed earned a like from one of our kind.
Use a Jumbo Jet next!
Blades would get destroyed first thing pretty much
Should do a spinning baseball bat and see how far you could hit different types of balls
15:31 How bout…NOW!
Hell yeah brother
If you want to get straight to the action and skip the bull, it's at 19:25.
They should pin this so less people waste 20 min of their life
Box full of goofballs softballs and baseballs with four blades.
Listen Lads, it's Not trying to take off! It's the Lorry (or whoever in TF you say Big Rig, 18 Wheeler!!) hitting the gnat theory. Ya know, sudden energy transfer! The blade rotation/torque is what is moving the foundation. If it's not anchored Into bedrock it is Going to rotate under the torque!!!
This video brought back memories. I was an airframe and structural repairer in the Army a few years ago (almost 30 years now...). After a bird strike, we replaced a rotor blade on an AH-1 in the field under less than ideal conditions. I was surprised that your blades appeared to be balanced. I half expected the first run up to be a little more... bouncy.
That was really surprising!
same thought lol. they must have got them from the same balanced rotor system
@dontyouworryaboutit_ Well, even if, the fact that the system was that smooth was pretty remarkable. I feel like they must have done SOME balancing before starting.
Agreed.
Came for the slowies, stayed for the stories leading to the drops 🤣
the Nokia never dies
The one thing that will outlast God, Man, and the rest of the Universe
Nah the Nokia is straight up techno blade
That Nokia was knocked naked. 😂 It looked like only the shell came off. The inner workings of it stayed.
Not a fan of the click bait thumbnail. You weren't at the tower and you didn't drop a bowling ball onto an actual helicopter as the thumbnail portrays
Bro you know is dangerous if drop in real helicopter it can cause death
@louellaniduazaWhat's your point?
Are you 5?
Ok Karen.
@adrianavina5606Nope. Just tired of misleading thumbnails that don't accurately depict the content of the video
you should just fly the drone thru it lol
11:02 Shelf of FEETures?
My people
I was literally about to type out this exact comment with the timestamp, and I opened up to find this at the top of the list!😅😅
14:50 Dean’s NUTS 🥜 💀💀💀😂😂😂
i love the fact that you see the bolt hit the ground in the Wide shot
Now we know why they're called 'choppers' !
As a U.S. Army helicopter mechanic/repairer myself, seeing the contraption y’all built not having some sort of stabilizing connection such as a stationary and rotating swashplate assembly coupled to that main rotor hub via pitch change links is terrifying, especially considering the insane amount of force being put out on a single, stationary axis with seemingly no counterbalancing/counterrotation compensation or dampening, AND y’all are throwing stuff at it. Idk, maybe Seth just put the bifilar and rotor blades together and then y’all built the driveshaft and he had no say in its design. This is a cool thing to watch because it 100% highlights the importance of FOD awareness in aviation but HOLY FUCKIN HELL boys, just how horribly wrong this could have possibly went. Please, next time you do something like this have an expert on site, because this was a bit more dangerous than I think y’all realized, and we love you guys too much.
I was worried about the shipping crate they are in. I can't see that stopping a shattered blade to well.
I have no clue what this mean but ill just agree
@Oso_jojo I think what he's saying is that this thing is on a single stationary axis (in this case point straight up) with no means of stabilisation so if something starts wobbling even a tiny bit at those speeds because there is no stabilisation (to prevent/dampen the wobbling) it will quickly get worse and worse until the device shakes itself apart. Obviously with blades that big travelling that fast you are talking about huge objects flying uncontrollably in unpredictable directions meaning a complete death trap for anyone nearby.
@TheDeadmanAUappreciate it!
@TheDeadmanAU yes. This guy gets it 👈
Just so you know, a seacan would not save your lives from a chunk of heli blade flying at it 😂
0:52 I'm wondering where these pilots are flying to keep hitting their blades in fake birds o.O
Barnstorming the Audubon Society Annual symposium and banquet?
Damn it only getting this video now someone hit the joke before me
My first thought on this ... "What is the lift of these blades?". End of the video shows that this is moving the entire frame and concreate block. Seriously impressive.
That was the imbalance not lift. Think of the washing machine walking out of the laundry.
The blades shouldn't produce significant lift unless they're pitched to do so. I imagine they angled them as flat as possible here.
the whole concrete pad shaking after hitting the blade hit that ball was wild it looked like it wanted to take off lol
12:56 skip loooooooooooooong sponsored ad
Always skip through the ads
Hey, in case yall didnt notice when the bowling ball hit it ripped a 2 foot section out of the blade. if you use the . and , keys to go frame by frame at around 20:00 you can see it slides the inner section out of the blade and throws is into the distance and makes a crater in the ground. this is most likely the reason for the concrete slab moving and the blades wobbling at the end.
Chopper blades moving a little slab, how amazing. Lift ain't no joke.
Fantastic content boys! You should go look up something ground resonance. It shows the importance of dampers in the main roter of a helicopter. It smooths out the vibrations. And the vibrations going out of control is what destroys the helicopter.
Excited to see pt. 2 !
0:46 "We are probably the only people in the world that have a perfect replication of a real helicopter to test the blade strength"
Dunning Kruger in full effect right there, eh? Apparently nobody else has ever thought to test the strength of helicopter blades before. Pilots everywhere have just been super lucky these last few decades.
Nah, it's a different type of confirmation bias: whenever the blades are _not_ OK, the pilot simply doesn't live to complain about it.
I bet no one has tested them for the use-case of falling bowling balls - clearly an oversight and one that I'm glad to see rectified.
Moving the whole foundation without shearing any bolts is wild work
Skip forward function most valuable function on RUclips
This episode made me beyond anxious, those blades are unbelievably deadly, it would go through that bunk like it wasnt even there
That single use thing, sounds pretty good
The movement of the whole system shaking is called ground resonance frequency. I learned about this in the navy....it's the reason you don't tighten chains down while the Helicopter is spinning down its blades....it could quite literally shake itself apart....look up videos of it, it's actually insane and quite interesting!
It's because part of the blade broke during the bowling ball. It threw everything off balance which is why it was shaking. Idk why how they didn't notice it or point it out. Ig that's the "to be continued"
ABH or what
@zavtparticles yes sir! 🫡
Watching this for the 2nd time because what would one do after a shift at Macca's 😁 in lovely Rio Rancho, New Mexico? The Golden Arches and for the win.
Hope everyone is well, and enjoying your well deserved time off. Editor Jack and Toby: I love the work you do, your individual computer setups are very nice, and "Three Australian chipmunks." lives in my head permanently 😁 How good.
that sound looks terrifying
5:45 - honestly. Shameful for using special effects. I get that footage of a Nokia breaking would be good for views, but I thought you would have the class to show that your helicopter just simply wasn’t capable of handling the phone. I never thought I’d see the day that HR would fake a video but here we are.
😂😂😂😂
Knock off nokia. Could never be legit 😭
If Australia is in the southern hemisphere, how do the boys at HR get stuff to fall up? 🤔
@ same here
@MrMelonsz Me too. I’m just not man enough to admit they got me! 😂👍🏼🥰
2:12 difference between Knowledge and Wisdom: Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit, not a vegetable - Wisdom is knowing that a tomato has no place in a fruit salad.
Truth
Wrong - Wisdom is knowing not to debate with idiots to begin with.
Knowledge is knowing the blades are damaged... wisdom is not spinning them up again
Knowledge is knowing tomatoes should be kept away from helicopters, wisdom is doing it anyway because it will get clicks.
My butt cheeks are sore from clenching while watching this. 🤣